No Time for Self Pity

Many of us have experienced life changing challenges in 2009. Challenges that we wish we didn’t have to face, challenges that made you want to run and hide, even challenges that may have put doubt in your heart about God. Some of us are at the breaking point where we can’t take anymore.

Last night I was thinking about some of the challenges Tracy and I have and are facing and I just wanted to breakdown but God told me that this is not the time for self-pity. God is saying to all of us that this is not the time to break down but rather the time of breakthrough. He is saying that He knows what you are going through and He is right there with you in the midst of it. He is saying some of the challenges you are facing were allowed by Him to strengthen you and mature you as His child. Once you get to that point of break down that is when breakthrough occurs.

If we hinder ourselves through self-pity we delay the breakthrough from happening. Each challenge that we face is used for good. It’s time to look at yourself in the mirror, look at that challenge head on and God will direct you as to what it means and why it’s there. 2010 is a year of order and restoration.

Nahum 1:7 (KJV)
The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in Him.

Through the midst of your challenge your stronghold is and always will be God.

Remember: The breaking point is the break through point.

I pray that this has been a blessing on your lives.

Daryle Houston II
Kingdom Vizion Ministries
www.kingdomvizion.org

Consume Me

Today as I was in worship a prayer sprang up out of my heart, it went like this…






Consume me O’ Lord
I surrender completely to you

I desire to do Your will
I desire to fully walk in Your ways

I give myself to you completely
Let your love take over

My heart is Yours
My mind is Yours

I give it all to you O’ Lord
I trust in you O’ God

Take me Lord
Produce through me

No holding back
Everything I am is Yours

Consume me Lord
Consume me

God is looking for people that will come before Him and surrender, who will say consume me Lord. He is looking for people He can use here on this earth who will say like Jesus did…

John 6:38 (NLT)
For I have come down from heaven to do the will of God who sent me, not to do my own will.

Luke 22:42 (NIV)
…Not my will, but yours, be done.

God knows better than we do, who He created us to be. He knows better than we do the things that we are supposed to do here on the earth. He knows better than us what lies ahead. So it is time people of God to begin to be fully used by God, but the only way that is going to happen is if we let God consume us totally. We must put aside ourselves, and say ok Lord, here I am, use me in any way You see fit. Lead me to anywhere I’m supposed to go, not my will Lord, but Yours be done in my life.

We should not look at relinquishing our lives and control to God as a bad thing. He already knows the things we both need and desire. I believe too many people think that if they give God total control He will send them off somewhere crazy where they don’t want to be, doing things they don’t want to be doing. Or they are too worried that it will delay the plans they already have. #1 God will always place you where you fit, where your puzzle piece belongs. Not saying that some of the things He has you do won’t be out of your comfort zone at first because they probably will be, but believe me once you are there, you will say, Yes! This is it! #2 as far as our own plans, can they be greater than God’s plans for us? Not at all. So I just want to encourage each of you out there today to take a look at yourselves and ask yourself, has it been you running the show in your life, or God, and then be bold enough to trust God, to seek Him, and to allow Him to consume you, so that you may do exactly what you were purposed to do.

God bless!

Tracy Houston
Kingdom Vizion Ministries
www.kingdomvizion.org

The Command

Matthew 14:25-28 (NKJV)
Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea. And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out for fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.” And Peter answered Him and said, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.”

I am in a place right now in God where I am being taught and trained in His ways. He is teaching me about patience, gratitude, peace, love, kindness, longsuffering, meekness, and temperance. This is my time for training to be sent out to follow His commands.

When we first started the ministry God showed us these wonderful visions of things to come, and we are very excited to posses those things which God has for us. But before we can posses, we first must be trained and then commanded. I am the type of person that doesn’t like inactivity; I always like to be doing something especially when it comes to something I am passionate about. When God revealed to Tracy and I these visions I was ready to go for it right away, but it wasn’t time yet.

God gave me a vision concerning what I was feeling on the inside; He showed me a dog on a leash that had a steak in front of him. The dog wasn’t trained so he was lunging at the steak, resisting his master and hurting his neck. Next God showed me a trained dog that was patiently sitting next to his master off of his leash waiting for the command to get the steak, when the master gave the command to get the steak the dog calmly stood up and walked to his reward.

In this vision the dog represents me, in the first representation the over excited out of control dog is me trying to lunge out and possess the vision God gave us concerning our future in ministry. The calm dog in the next vision represents how God wants me to be concerning the vision He gave us. He wants us to be trained up and patiently waiting on His command. (Now I’m not trying to say that God see’s you as a dog, this is just how he communicated one of His principles to me)

Luke 5:1-4 (NKJV)
So it was, as the multitude pressed about Him to hear the word of God, that He stood by the Lake of Gennesaret, and saw two boats standing by the lake; but the fishermen had gone from them and were washing their nets. Then He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little from the land. And He sat down and taught the multitudes from the boat. When He had stopped speaking, He said to Simon, “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.”

The above scriptures both accurately detail this principle God gave me. The first scripture tells us how Peter walked on the water when he saw Jesus. Peter was able to walk on the water because he was commanded to, if he were never commanded to walk on the water he would have sunk. The second scripture explains to us how Simon launched out into the deep and gathered a net breaking boat load of fish. This would have never happened if he weren’t commanded to do so.

Many of us sometimes take it upon ourselves to launch out into the deep without a command from God and we end up at the bottom needing to be rescued. We all have purpose and reward in this world, and in order for us to accurately posses all that God has for us we first must be trained up and commanded to go out. Wait for the command child of God.

Remember waited time is not wasted time.

I hope this has been a blessing on your lives.

Daryle Houston II
Kingdom Vizion Ministries
www.kingdomvizion.org

The Holy Spirit

John 14:26 (NKJV)
But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to you remembrance all things that I said to you.

As believers we all know that God sent the Holy Spirit down to earth to be our comforter, to lead us and guide us in the ways of truth. As Christians it is:
1. Our job to let that happen.
2. Not to become so religious that we think we can do anything we want and think the Holy Spirit will deliver us.
3. Respect the guidance that we get from the Holy Spirit if it doesn’t line up with what we want to do.

Sometimes as Christian believers we can often blame the Holy Spirit for some of the unintelligent decisions we make. We bring upon our own selves unnecessary suffering that we think we have to go through because we think we are doing God justice and we think by going through unnecessary sufferings that God will like us just a little bit more. God likes you just the same no matter what you’re going through. Even when you didn’t know God, He still liked you in all of your mess because He created you. You are His child.

First it’s up to us to let the Holy Spirit have His way in our lives; for some this is not an easy process because this means that you are giving up full control to something you initially cannot see with your natural eyes. This is why God instituted what is known as faith, faith to believe in something you can’t see. Faith to believe in His deity and faith to believe in His purpose for coming to this earth in the form of a man, Yeshua (Jesus). Once we come to the revelation where we know that we cannot live in this world successfully without the correct guidance from the Holy Spirit, we then have to come to the revelation of respect for the Holy Spirit if that has not already happened.

Secondly the Holy Spirit is not a genie in the bottle and in order to effectively flow in the Holy Spirit you have to use Gods wisdom. A lot of people put themselves in detrimental situations thinking that the Holy Spirit will rescue them. When the tempter came to Jesus after His forty day fast one of the things He said to Jesus was if You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. He wanted Jesus to throw Himself off a cliff and have angels come and rescue Him from death. Jesus answered and said “You shall not tempt the Lord your God”. The same reigns true today, don’t tempt God just because you’re righteous. If you are walking down the street at night in a bad neighborhood and you say I’m going to walk down this dark alley because I am a child of God and He is protecting me and will rescue me from anything. I would first say use a little wisdom, don’t deliberately put yourself in a bad situation where you would need to be rescued from your own stupidity. The Holy Spirit is here to teach us, to lead us and guide us into all truth; it’s not the other way around.

Third, you have to respect the guidance of the Holy Spirit even if you don’t understand it. Holy Spirit knows more than you do about yourself. If the Holy Spirit says turns left, turn left no questions asked. Questions beget curiosity, curiosity begets doubt, and doubt begets disobedience. Don’t be like Adam in the garden and get too curious about something that the Holy Spirit is leading you away from. Is it ok to ask the Holy Spirit for confirmation about certain things; I think so just out of experience. But as you mature as a Christian your level of trust will increase and questions and curiosity about certain things that you used to question will no longer boggle your mind.

Just flow in the Holy Spirit and give Him total and full control of your life.

I pray that this has been a blessing on your lives.

Daryle Houston II
Kingdom Vizion Ministries
www.kingdomvizion.org

Flow in Your Gift!

Romans 12:4-8 (NLT)
Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ’s body. We are all parts of his one body, and each of us has different work to do. And since we are all one body in Christ, we belong to each other, and each of us needs all the others. God has given each of us the ability to do certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out when you have faith that God is speaking through you. If your gift is that of serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, do a good job of teaching. If your gift is to encourage others, do it! If you have money, share it generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.

Each of us has been instilled with unique gifts and abilities that God has given us. Paul is saying here that whatever gift we have been given then we should put it to use. Sometimes we can get caught up in comparing ourselves to others…I could never do that, I could never speak like that, I don’t have resources like they do, etc.

But what we have to remember is that we are not anyone else. We shouldn’t compare ourselves to anyone else. We have our own gifts inside. There are people out there that we can touch because of what God has put on the inside of us. If we are trying to be someone else then we will miss those opportunities.

The scripture says that we all have a different work to do within the body. An arm can’t be a foot, and the shoulder can’t become the hand, etc. We each have to function in our appropriate places otherwise the body does not function together.

I want each of you to remember you are all unique and different. You each have your own special gifts and talents, so embrace those and be who God created you to be. It’s time for each of us to rise up and begin to flow in our own gifts.

Tracy Houston
Kingdom Vizion Ministries
www.kingdomvizion.org

You ARE Beautiful!

Many of us have grown up with the pressures of the world all around us. On television, in magazines, on billboards are endless images of what “beauty” is. Many of us have grown up not feeling good enough, not pretty enough. Some have been called fat, or ugly. Some have been told that they would never amount to anything, or they were good for nothing. Some have been abused, neglected, and rejected. As we grew up, images and words have shaped our worlds. As we became teens and adults many times those things have held us back from fully becoming who we were created to become. Some have not been able to see past those images and words, and see the true beauty of who they are.

As we have gone through these pressures, many of us have tried to make ourselves beautiful by the world’s standard; some through makeup, some through plastic surgery, and some have starved themselves. Other’s have tried to find their validation in other people, finding someone to make them feel like they are beautiful or worth something. The problem with these things is that they are just temporary fixes. Makeup will wash off, once you start with the plastic surgery, you will find more and more “flaws”. People can leave, and when they go, the sense of beauty and self-worth go with them. It’s time for us to begin to believe what God said about us, and begin to let Him renew our mind (Romans 12:2), and let Him frame our world (Hebrews 11:3), instead of allowing the media and people to frame our world.

Remember we were all made in God’s image (Genesis 1:26), and He said that what He created is GOOD (Genesis 1:31)!

Psalm 139:13-14
For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

1 Samuel 16:7
But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For [the LORD] does not [see] as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."

I am here to tell you today that each and every one of you is beautiful. You were created with a purpose, you were chosen by God before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4)! God does not make mistakes, He is a master creator! He is the ultimate artist! Everything He has created is beautiful, we just have to begin to see beauty by God’s standard, and not see beauty by man’s standard. Only an awesomely creative God could make so many different people and make them all unique and distinctive. How boring would it be if we all looked alike! I want each of you to begin to celebrate who you are, celebrate what God gave you. If you have not been able to see the beauty within yourself before, ask God to show you. Ask Him to reveal you to yourself through His eyes. Allow yourself to see the beauty that He created which is YOU!

I’m going to leave you with this song by Jonny Diaz called More Beautiful You…

Little girl fourteen flipping through a magazine
Says she wants to look that way
But her hair isn’t straight her body isn’t fake
And she’s always felt overweight

Well little girl fourteen I wish that you could see
That beauty is within your heart
And you were made with such care your skin your body and your hair
Are perfect just the way they are

There could never be a more beautiful you
Don’t buy the lies disguises and hoops they make you jump through
You were made to fill a purpose that only you could do
So there could never be a more beautiful you

Little girl twenty-one the things that you’ve already done
Anything to get ahead
And you say you’ve got a man but he’s got another plan
Only wants what you will do instead

Well little girl twenty-one you never thought that this would come
You starve yourself to play the part
But I can promise you there’s a man whose love is true
And he’ll treat you like the jewel you are

There could never be a more beautiful you
Don’t buy the lies disguises and hoops they make you jump through
You were made to fill a purpose that only you could do
So there could never be a more beautiful you

So turn around you’re not too far
To back away be who you are
To change your path go another way
It’s not too late you can be saved
If you feel depressed with past regrets
The shameful nights hope to forget
Can disappear they can all be washed away
By the one who’s strong can right your wrongs
Can rid your fears dry all your tears
And change the way you look at this big world
He will take your dark distorted view
And with His light He will show you truth
And again you’ll see through the eyes of a little girl

There could never be a more beautiful you
Don’t buy the lies disguises and hoops they make you jump through
You were made to fill a purpose that only you could do
So there could never be a more beautiful you
There could never be, a more beautiful you.

God Bless!

Tracy Houston
Kingdom Vizion Ministries
www.kingdomvizion.org

Renew your mind

Romans 12:2 (NKJV)
And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

Yesterday I was thinking about the human mind and what it is capable of. The human mind is one of the most mysterious places in the universe; the human mind is capable of doing things that we cannot even conceive right now. As humans we only use a fraction of the percentage of our minds.

The bible says that we are to renew our mind to the things that concern God using His Word as a tool for doing so. When people read this scripture I think they overlook the seriousness that it entails, it is telling us to renovate our minds, to get out all of the things that have brought harm into our lives through wrong thinking and teaching, and be totally transformed in our beings. Renewing your mind is way more than just reading the Word of God and applying it but rather reading the Word of God and living it, becoming it. The Word is made flesh through you and me.

Just think about it for a minute; why are terrorists, terrorists’; because someone or something changed their minds to conform to what they know now. Why is a member of the KKK a member of the KKK; because they were taught to hate. Why don’t atheists believe; because they were never taught or because they were taught wrongly. Why are you the way you are (not saying that’s a bad thing) because when you were young you were taught the traditions of your family and you essentially became what you saw or were taught. Some people became what they saw or were taught and it wasn’t good, they became alcoholics, abusers, abused, etc… on the other hand some had a good upbringing and became loving members of their households as a result of good examples.

What I am getting at is that whatever you continually allow your mind to be consumed with that is what you will become. It’s very powerful. As Christians we have to be renewed and transformed by the Word of God like never before, let God’s Word totally engulf your being and your thoughts. It takes more than just reading but rather living it also.

I pray this has been a blessing on your life.

Daryle Houston II
Kingdom Vizion Ministries
www.kingdomvizion.org

What do you desire?

Next Friday we will be celebrating the birth of Jesus. Many people use this time of the year for the own desires of their flesh. Since beginning to have the revelation of relationship with God and what that actually means I notice that some of the things that I once desired with my heart, I no longer do. Psalm 37:4 tells us that if we delight ourselves in the Lord that He will give us the desires of our heart.

What does this mean? The first part of the scripture says that we are to first delight ourselves in the Lord. This means more than just singing and praying and feeling happy that God is in control. The word delight there means to be soft or pliable. So in order to obtain our hearts desires first we must be at a point where we are ready and willing to be molded by the Lord no matter what that entails.

Now, before I came to this revelation my hearts desires consisted of a new Mercedes Benz cls 550, a big house, a lot of money; you can figure out where this is going. As a result of being in relationship with the Lord I still do desire these THINGS but there not my heart’s desire anymore. The desires of my heart now consist of do the will of God for my life, helping people all over the world through the preaching and teaching of the Word of God, I want to do what God wants me to do.

I could have only come to point in my life by letting God mold me into the man that He called me to be. Now as for the material THINGS, God knows what we like and what we want and He is providing them for Tracy and I, but there’s an order you must go through if you consider yourself to be on Gods team. Matthew 6:33 tells us to first seek the Kingdom of God and all His righteousness and all these THINGS will be added unto you.

So as we enter the Christmas week let’s really think about the things that we desire that are in our hearts. The key words there are “in your heart”.

If you look at the life of King Solomon, God asked Him one day what He wanted. Solomon answered the Lord correctly and asked for wisdom that he may judge Gods people, and as a result the THINGS that people work for so hard for like wealth and riches were added unto Him effortlessly. 2 Chronicles 1:11

I pray this has been a blessing on your lives.

Daryle Houston II
Kingdom Vizion Ministries
www.kingdomvizion.org

Through Tough Times

Hello KVM family! I just wanted to bring a word of encouragement this morning. In this last month or two I have been hearing many stories of struggle and loss. From financial, to marital, to family, to children. People have been laid off, lost homes, and lost loved ones, and just been going through some stuff.

I know through these tough times some people have distanced themselves from God, or become bitter, angry, depressed, or felt like they had lost their faith, but I’m here to tell you this morning that no matter what you’ve been going through God is with you and your faith is intact. Even if you haven’t felt His presence in the natural, even if it seems as things have only gotten worse. He has been by your side through this whole process, and I want us as we go through these things to begin to take a different perspective. Let us be like the three Hebrew boys in the book of Daniel. They did not follow the norms of the world, they would not bow down and worship an idol, no matter what the world said for them to do, and no matter how bad things had gotten.

We must have this same attitude, that no matter what happens in our lives we will not conform to the ways of the world, we will not listen to the people of the world’s advice on what to do when things go wrong, we will not have bad attitudes in tough times, we will not try to hustle and go out there making things happen on our own, we will not let go of God and begin trusting in man, instead let us do as they did. They did not complain, they were not angry at God, nor did they forsake Him when they were being persecuted, instead this is what they did when Nebuchadnezzar threatened them…

Daniel 3:16-18
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego answered and said to the king, "O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If that [is] [the case], our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver [us] from your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up."

Then the three of them were thrown in the fire, but instead of being burned up, this is what the king saw…

Vs 25
Look!" he answered, "I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God."

Then the king called them out of the fire…

Vs. 27
And the satraps, administrators, governors, and the king's counselors gathered together, and they saw these men on whose bodies the fire had no power; the hair of their head was not singed nor were their garments affected, and the smell of fire was not on them.

After that the King blessed God because he saw what He had done, and made a decree that no one could speak against God, and then the Hebrew boys were promoted. So we can see from this story an attitude of total trust in God. They knew that no matter what they were going through that God would be there with them, and He was. So through this matter not only were they delivered and came out free and not smelling like smoke, through watching what they went through the king and the people of the land came to God and blessed Him, and not only that, after their ordeal was over they got promoted!

Glory to God, it’s all about attitude and trust today people of God, just as God delivered these three Hebrew boys He will deliver each one of you! So continue to walk through, continue to keep a good attitude as you go through because whether you realize it or not you are ministering to the people that are watching you, and through your actions they could be drawn to God just as the king was. And know and believe that God has something Good for you; He has plans to prosper you just as He did with the 3 Hebrew boys. So be encouraged people of God, we will make it through and we will come out the other side even greater! God bless!

Tracy Houston
Kingdom Vizion Ministries
www.kingdomvizion.org

Signs and Wonders

Signs and Wonders are acts that God uses to display His power. I think that signs and wonders are more for the non-believer and the new person in Christ than they are for the mature believer. Just think about it when you first came to Christ, you probably needed a little convincing.

Some people are drawn in by a miraculous event, say you were sick and instantly you were healed. As a result of that move of the power of God, you believed. Some of us didn’t have to see anything to believe, we just believed the words that the person ministering to us were indeed true.

There are believers in the church today that base their relationship with God off of signs and wonders. They’re always looking for something supernatural to happen, and when they don’t see any of that, they say that the presence of God wasn’t there in the place. When they pray they beg God for a holy visitation and when they do experience something like the presence of a glory cloud or something supernatural then their extra happy because “God showed up”.

This kind of behavior and thought process is immaturity on the behalf of that person. God does use natural manifestations such as glory clouds, sweet smelling scents, and other supernatural events from time to time. I believe that theses manifestations are more for the non-believers in the crowd because God knows that most people need to see first before they believe.

My standpoint on the matter is this: whether or not I experience those supernatural manifestations I know who God is and that He is real, and most importantly I know who I am in Christ and that I have a relationship with my creator. When I pray and if I don’t see a natural manifestation come in the room like a glory cloud I’m not down and out because I didn’t think God showed up. God is always around, when I am praying, when I am sleeping, when I am in church, when I am in my home. I don’t need a supernatural event to prove that God is with me.

When we come to that revelation that God is the I Am that I Am we will begin to experience God on a whole new level whether we see manifestations of Him in the natural or not.

Just because you experience signs and wonders this alone doesn’t make your relationship with God increase. The children of Israel experienced signs and wonders every day, yet they still defied God and turned their back on Him. So don’t get stuck on the supernatural, get caught up in the relationship instead.

I pray that this has been a blessing on your lives.

Daryle Houston II
Kingdom Vizion Ministries
www.kingdomvizion.org

Rekindle the Flames

Lately I’ve been listening to this song by David Crowder called “How He loves”. It is a powerful song that gets into your spirit about the love of God. A few of the lyrics go like this…

Yeah, He loves us,
Oh! how He loves us,
Oh! how He loves us,
Oh! how He loves.

When you begin to allow God’s love to wash over you it is an amazing experience. It is freeing and cleansing. You begin to see God and yourself in a different perspective. You begin to truly understand what God has done for you and the sacrifice that Jesus made with His own life (John 3:16). You begin to open your heart to God. You begin to hear God more clearly. Your life changes when you allow God’s love to consume you, and when you release back your love to Him. It becomes a love affair between you and your Creator. If you’ve felt like you’ve become distant from God, or have gotten away from that place of passion like you had when you were first saved then it’s time to rekindle the flames. Just as in a natural relationship if you’ve been with someone for years sometimes things can get routine or the passion can begin to dwindle, or you can begin to take that person for granted and not do the things you used to do. The same happens with many people and their relationship with God, they get comfortable in routine, they lose the fire and the passion, and they don’t do the same things they used to do with and for God. So just as you have to make an effort in that natural relationship to get things back to the place they used to be, as do you in your relationship with God. You have to begin again to get to His heart. You have to begin again to spend time with Him just bearing your all to Him. You have to spend time listening to Him. You have to sing to Him and worship Him. Remember that no matter what, He loves you and He is right there just waiting on you; His desire is to be close to you. So I just want to encourage everyone out there today that might have lost the passion, or maybe it’s just died down some, to rekindle the flames today, allow God’s love to saturate your being, and be changed.

God bless!

Tracy Houston
Kingdom Vizion Ministries
www.kingdomvizion.org

Why? Why? Why?

I think this is one of the most common questions that people ask God; why, why, why? Why God did you let this terrible thing happen to me? Why God am I being challenged so hard? Why God did you let my family member die? God I thought you loved me, I thought that you were my protector and comforter. Why Lord why?

Throughout life many situations take place, some good and some bad; for believers especially we think that because we are on Gods side that we are totally removed from challenges in the world, not true. Situations may happen to believers that are indeed unjust, cruel, and just plain evil. When situations happen to us that we feel aren’t supposed to happen, instead of asking God or blaming God, how about we do a self analysis.

1. Is this situation a result of something I brought on myself?
2. Could this situation have been avoided if I would have asked God first?
3. Could this situation have been avoided if I obeyed Gods command in the beginning?
4. Is this situation indeed from God to teach me and mature me?
5. Or is this just something that happened as a result of living life?

As Christians we always tend to put the blame on God for letting certain things happen to us when in fact some times we are the ones to blame. Now, there are times when things happen and you had nothing to do with it; maybe in fact it was something unjust. Does being a Christian make you exempt from unjust situations; no not at all. Many people in the Bible were victims of unjust situations, Stephen was killed unjustly. Now, does this mean that we are to live in fear of challenges in the world; no not at all because greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world.

We’ve been reading the book The Shack lately and this was a quote from the book that kind of ties into why things just happen sometimes. No it’s not from the Bible, but it gives a perspective that makes you think…

God talking..."Nobody knows what horrors I have saved the world from 'cause people can't see what never happened. All evil flows from independence, and independence is your choice. If I were to simply revoke all the choices of independence, the world as you know it would cease to exist and love would have no meaning. This world is not a playground where I keep all my children free from evil. Evil is the chaos of this age that you brought to me, but it will not have the final say. Now it touches everyone I love, those who follow me and those who don't. If I take away the consequences of people's choices, I destroy the possibility of love. Love that is forced is no love at all."

God wants us to live glorious lives full of peace, joy, and righteousness. When something negative does happen to us, because of His love for us, there is always something that God uses in that situation to our benefit (Romans 8:28).

Psalm 55:22 (NKJV)
Cast your burden on the Lord, And He shall sustain you; He shall never permit the righteous to be moved.

Whatever happens to you in the world never let it take away your peace, or your joy. God is and will always be on your side. Don’t live life inside of a box thinking that you’re going to be protected. Get out and live life to the fullest, it’s ok to go out and have fun. What non-believer wants to look at a boring, religious Christian as their example of Christ?

Know that God has your back.

I pray that this has been a blessing on your lives.

Daryle Houston II
Kingdom Vizion Ministries
www.kingdomvizion.org

Self-Righteousness

As believers sometimes we may believe that what we have worked for all of our lives and what God has blessed us with is a sign of our righteousness with The Father. We have to be careful not to cross the line of self-righteousness. Self-righteousness is exactly what it says it is; a person is self-righteous when they start judging their good standing with God with the things they have accumulated on this earth.

In the book of Job, this was a mindset that Job had and it took repentance on his part to change his thoughts about God.

Job 19:9 (NKJV)
He has stripped me of my glory, And taken the crown from my head.

When Job went through his trials and everything that he worked so hard for throughout his life was no longer there, he immediately attributed that to his not being righteous in the sight of God anymore. The things on this earth that you have gained don’t make you righteous. You might say, “but God has given me all of these blessings.” Absolutely true, God has indeed poured out blessings on your life, but that is not what makes you righteous. When a person gets in the mindset of self-righteousness after that mindset comes another mindset, the one in which you think God owes you something.

Job said that God had stripped him of his own glory. It’s was never our glory to begin with, it is and will always be Gods glory that is upon our lives. Job also says in 31:4 (NKJV) “Does He not see my ways, And count all my steps?” Job is saying, isn’t God looking at all the good things I do on this earth; this is a form of pride that Job is displaying. Again you’re not righteous because of your good deeds, if that were the case no one would be able to hold onto Gods righteousness because we all have sinned.

You are righteous before God because when you decided to dedicate your life to His ways, you were created in it (Ephesians 4:24 NKJV). When God made you He accepted you because you were formed by Him and God don’t make junk. Throughout life God may not approve of some of the things you do, but that doesn’t change how He views you as His child.

So I’m saying if you have experienced some sort of loss or mishap in your life don’t think that God is not with you and that He has given up on you. As long as you seek Him, He will be found by you. Every experience we go through in life, good or bad; there is something to be learned. That’s what life in Christ is about; learning, maturing, and being obedient to God.

I pray that this has been a blessing on your lives.

Daryle Houston II
Kingdom Vizion Ministries
www.kingdomvizion.org

Who You are in Christ

One out of many things we can learn from Jesus is that He knew who He was. In the body of Christ and in the world we are stuck in an identity crisis that is why we are not walking in the fullness of who God created us to be. Jesus knew who He was in all aspects that is why He could speak with boldness, that is why He could heal the sick, raise the dead, and cast out demons. That is why He could preach and proclaim things with wisdom and knowledge, all because He knew who He was. As believers before we can truly help others to the fullest capability in which we were created to do, we have to begin to know who we are and accept who we are in Christ…

You are righteous- Philippians 3:9
You are free from condemnation- Romans 8:1-2
You are free from sin- Romans 6:6-7
You are healed- 1 Peter 2:24
You are loved- 1 John 4:9-10
You are chosen- Ephesians 1:3-8
You are God’s workmanship- Ephesians 2:10
You have been redeemed and forgiven- Colossians 1:13-14
You are free- Galatians 2:4
You are created for good works- Ephesians 2:10
You are an heir of God- Romans 8:17

These are just a few of the things that each one of us becomes when we give our lives over to Christ. I want to encourage each of you as you read the word see yourself in it, meditate on it, and begin to discover who you now are in Christ so that you can begin to walk in the fullness of who God created you to be.

God bless!

Tracy Houston
Kingdom Vizion Ministries
www.kingdomvizion.org

Free to Choose

To me, what makes God so awesome is that He gives us the freedom of choice, to follow Him or follow our own vanities. I remember when I was younger and I thought if I had everything I wanted that I would be happy. I went out trying to find happiness in all sort of things; from money, to different women, drinking and partying, material things, status, friends, the list goes on. Every time I would try something new my flesh would be satisfied for awhile but then I would go back to feeling unhappy and depressed.

All along the answer to my eternal happiness was right there all the time just waiting for me to come to the acknowledgement of Him. In all my highs and lows God was always continually speaking to me; sometimes I listened and sometimes I didn’t. The times that I didn’t listen I usually brought some negative situation into my life that I usually ran straight back to God for. When I would ask Him for help He would supply but the help was usually in the form of peace from within.

When we get into bad situations that we bring on ourselves we usually ask God to rectify it for us. Say for example you’re deep in credit card debt and the collectors are calling left and right, we ask God for help and he supplies it, maybe in the form of a strategy to help pay down the debt, or he gives us peace that the situation is going to be ok. On the other hand we were looking for God to miraculously cancel the debt in one instant. God surely can do that but what does that teach you, all that does is enables the same behavior that got you in debt in the first place.

We are Gods children and He is our Father; and as our Father one of the things He does best is teaches us/matures us. I had reached a point in my life where I was tired of messing up, so I took a stand point that from that point on I would ask God before leaping out on my own and trying to gain happiness through vanities. Since I started to do that my life has totally changed, I’m happy when I’m down, I have joy in the times of trouble, and I have more understanding of God and my purpose. Do I still make mistakes, of course I do; but I like to think that I avoid more mistakes than making them.

For me it all boils down to this:

Ecclesiastes 12:13 (NKJV)
Fear God and keep His commandments, For this is man’s all.

It’s just that simple, and through the sacrifice of His son Jesus Christ we are now redeemed from the curse of death (spiritual death), ain’t life grand? Not too hard to live by, everything else will come into alignment.

Vanity: The futile emptiness of trying to be happy apart from God.

I pray this has been a blessing on your life.

Daryle Houston II
Kingdom Vizion Ministries
www.kingdomvizion.org